Kalshi Hit With Nationwide Class Action Over ‘Illegal Sports Betting’

Kalshi is accused of operating an unlicensed sports gambling platform that misleads customers into thinking they’re getting fairer odds than traditional sportsbooks when that isn’t the case, according to a proposed class action lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The suit, filed in New York federal court on behalf of thousands of potential class members, features seven named plaintiffs who claim they were deceived into losing money. It seeks to recover the money they have bet on the platform, and demands a jury trial with the potential for damages to be tripled.

"By operating unlicensed sports betting, Kalshi has violated gambling laws, engaged in illegal deceptive activity, and unjustly enriched itself at the expense of tens of thousands of consumers,” the complaint says.

Kalshi allows users to "trade” on the outcome of sporting events, although the sports event contracts it offers look a lot like traditional betting. Users can put money on which team will win the Thursday Thanksgiving NFL games, for example, such as Green Bay or Detroit or Kansas City or Dallas. Users can also "trade” on over/unders, like whether Jared Goff will throw for two or more touchdowns.

The suit directly challenges Kalshi’s argument that it differs from standard sportsbooks because bettors wager against one another as opposed to the house. According to the lawsuit,  consumers are often betting against Kalshi itself—through "market maker” subsidiaries Kalshi Trading LLC and KalshiEx, or hedge-fund partners, like Susquehanna International Group.

• Continue reading:  https://frontofficesports.com/kalshi-hit-with-nationwide-class-action-over-illegal-sports-betting/
  • Kalshi facing class action lawsuit alleging ‘unlicensed sports betting’(Awful Announcing)
  • Lawsuit alleges Kalshi 'duped' gamblers into illegal sports bets against the house (Raw Story)
  • Kalshi Market Maker Bets Against Consumers, Lawsuit Alleges (Bloomberg Law)

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